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Don’t you love it when a hare-brained idea just happens to work out? You know what I mean: you get that vision in your head and you aren’t sure it is going to work, but when it does, it is AWESOME! Well, that is how I feel about the simple project I’m sharing today: These Plexiglass and Sheet Metal DIY Floating Frames.
I have always wanted to make some floating frames, but I didn’t want them to be completely transparent, I wanted them to have some sort of detail, and that is exactly what I got by adding a sheet of perforated sheet metal to the mix.
I love that you still get that district “framed” feel to your art, but it is still transparent, so you can see the wall color behind it, and you still get the floating frame vibe.
Of course, a plain sheet metal and plexiglass floating frame is can be quite industrial looking, so to soften it up more for my aesthetic, I mounted one inside of an old wooden mail tray I had, and I suddenly had the perfect yin and yang of industrial and rustic.
And once the frame was mounted inside of the tray, I no longer needed a way to display it. DESKTOP FLOATING FRAMES! I love it! I am pretty sure I’m going to find a home for them in my sewing room.

Tutorial:
I first cut down the aluminum sheet to the exact size of the 11x14 sheet of plexiglass, and I used my sanding block to smooth off the sharp cut edges. (The aluminum is pretty thin and will bend, so make sure you support the metal on a flat surface and only sand the very edge.)
Next I marked where I wanted my four standoffs (the hardware that holds the frame away from the wall) would be placed on my plexiglass sheet (make sure to leave enough room for your artwork in the middle!)Tip: Don’t remove the protective sheet from the plexiglass until the VERY LAST STEP.
Carefully supporting the plexiglass on a piece of scrap wood (otherwise it will bend and crack) drill through it on your four marks.I drilled the plexiglass first and then used it those four holes as my template to drill through the metal. I used clamps to keep the plastic and the metal sheet lined up exactly. The plastic helps hold the aluminum down.

The sheet metal wants to kick out since the drill bit doesn’t catch evenly, so be really careful on this step.
If you are really daring you could sandwich both the metal and plexiglass and drill through them both at the same time.
Luckily if the hole is a little ugly it won’t matter, there is a decent amount of overhand with the mounting hardware to cover up any rough edges.
Now it is time to sandwich your metal sheet, your artwork and the plexiglass and then push the screws on the standoffs through.
Tip: If you are mounting on the wall with screws, I would put all the hardware ON your artwork, put them up on the all, mark where each screw will go and then take them apart to attach them. Dont’ try to mount the hardware to the wall first and then line it up with your artwork.
I even tried mounting mine inside a wooden tray, and I loved it so much!
The whole process only took me about 20 minutes and it looks a lot more complicated than that. Don’t you love it when that happens?

This project was part of this month’s Power Tool Challenge, featuring these other amazing bloggers and their projects. Don’t miss THIS COLLECTION OF OTHER FRAMES AND ARTWORK DISPLAY IDEAS:

With the completion of my most recent build I've been really fired up about building projects lately. And since the next big holiday right now is Easter I've been on the hunt for fun DIY building project ideas I could use.

But I wanted to get some new ideas, so I went on a mission to find other woodworking and building projects with the Easter theme and you won’t believe what I found!

If you want to get out into the garage and use some power tools, these 15 Easter projects should be some real inspiration!

Shameless Plug: If you are looking for a group of other female woodworkers (which can be less intimidating and condescending than some of the large male dominated Facebook woodworking groups) I recently set one up that you are welcome to join.

Ever since getting back from Haven last year I have been slightly obsessed with concrete. There were these guys there from Buddy Rhodes and they did some of the most Ah-Maz-Ing concrete work. They specialized in countertops, but some of their art pieces and furniture were so fantastic I haven’ stopped thinking about it since then.

Since I have (clearly) been on a plastic Easter Egg kick this week, it would not surprise anyone to know I used the plastic eggs a mold to create concrete easter eggs:
And I am so stoked with how this project came out, that I am definitely going to work with concrete more often. I LOVE it!

The process is a little messy, but really fun. And it goes surprisingly fast.

Easter comes early this year. And so I thought it was about time to get working on my annual tradition of transforming plastic eggs. It has become one of those things I love doing every year. Seeing all the fun variations I can make out of dollar store eggs. (Like this, this, this, this and this)

And this year I’ve started off by really thinking outside the box. These monochromatic textured eggs are clean and modern. The polar opposite of the brightly colored cheesy plastic basket filler they started out as. They almost look like plaster or concrete. But they aren’t.

For a relatively new woodworker, there aren’t many projects that come out better than you expect. You typically have a vision, and your final project is close, but never perfect. This is NOT one of those projects. I am just so excited with how this set of cutting boards came out, I’m just pleased as punch with it!

It is a set of puzzle shaped mini-cutting boards (I used maple) that assemble together to form one large cutting board:But the fun part is that any individual mini-cutting board can be used as a serving tray, and the notch in the puzzle piece shape can be used to hold a wine glass! ISN’T THAT GENIUS!?

One of my most popular tutorials is “How To Etch Glass” where I demonstrated the etching process in a photo tutorial. I field DOZENS of questions about the process every month. In that post I use a vinegar bottle (turned soap dispenser) as my sample project.So I followed up that original post with another one and this time etched mugs for Father’s day.
But I am still getting questions about all the steps, and most of these could be readily answered by just watching the entire process from start to finish.